Athleticism and the Martial Arts by KJN Ronald Stone

Athleticism and the Martial Arts by KJN Ronald Stone

Unfortunately, too many people in the American martial arts community have little understanding of what it really takes to reach instructor status.  Many excellent athletes receive far more credit than they deserve, based solely on physical performance rather than on the knowledge they actually are required to have but many don’t. 

Consider that people who used cocaine before their kickboxing matches were considered invincible athletes,  and  people who abused anabolic steroids were considered amazing martial artists solely because of their physique. 

Of course as usual Hollywood and the media are partially to blame.  Since Bruce Lee first began filming, the public has had the notion that to be a great martial artist you must look like a 32 year old steroid junkie, when in fact knowledge and experience are just as important as speed and flexibility.

Were athleticism the main criterium for a martial artist then we would all start out as 9^th dans and gradually decrease in rank as we age and lose our physical abilities. Now, consider for example the life of Keiko Fukuda, the last of Kano’s students and the first women to be awarded  a tenth  dan in Judo. At the end of her life taught from a wheelchair. Should we say that she was undeserving to be considered a true martial artist because in her nineties she lacked the motor skills of a 25 year old?

Of course not.  This is why most martial arts have age requirements for dan ranks and time at grade requirements prior to promotion.  Knowledge and experience by definition require time to gain those skills. Simply demonstrating physical proweness or performing techniques without knowledge of their history or application does not give one the right to claim to be at instructor level in the martial arts. It is merely “monkey see monkey do” and no one considers that an appropriate methodology.

Also we should consider that will cross training is appreciated that doesn’t mean mixing a little part of various arts but rather in mastering those you are studying.  Having colored belt status in multiple arts does not make one qualified to claim cross training success or to be used as a justification to start a supposedly whole new style.

As another famous grand master recently pointed out, having studied addition tables in the second grade, multiplication in the third, and algebra in the ninth grade does not qualify you to claim you are creating a new branch of mathematics or to teach at MIT. In like manner having received as a child a blue belt in Taekwondo, a green belt in Judo and a brown belt in Shotokan Karate does mean we should take seriously your claim to having created a new martial art. You are merely a jack of all trades, master of none.
      

Furthermore creating a new style requires confirmation, recognition and  approval from an internationally recognized federation of grandmasters (plural) such as the Korean Martial Arts Instructor’s Association or the World Martial Arts Congress.

Flip Wilson the comedian once said that old people are cool.  They got to be cool by living so long, so remember the old adage to beware of fighting an elderly person.  They are tired, frail and weak, so they will just kill you quickly. 

About the author: R.W. Stone is currently a practicing veterinarian in Central Florida.  He is an avid horseman, a master ranked martial artist, a best-selling western author, and a firearms enthusiast. After joining a martial arts school in 1970 Stone started studying Yudo with a Korean grandmaster.  He eventually became a member of the Judo team of the University of Illinois.  It was at the University that a Korean classmate and friend introduced him to Tae Kwon do.  After graduating veterinary college, he found the martial arts becoming too sports oriented and eventually after moving from Miami to Central Florida he sought out a Hapkido grandmaster. Currently Stone is ranked 8th dan in Haemukwan Hapkido, a 4th dan in Daehan Yudo and a second dan in Kukki Taekwondo.  He is the Hapkido instructor at the American Dragon Martial Arts Academies. 

You can learn more about the Korean Martial Arts Instructors Association at https://www.kmaia.org 

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